Welcome to the online diary of a Central Oregon Grandmother (me) who is busy celebrating the positive portions of her everyday life ... along with her best friend husband (Cary). It is quite an eclectic diary and I try to do my best to incorporate a little bit of history into many of my posts. Your visit to our piece of American Pie is greatly appreciated. This chatty Kathy posts frequently, so coming back to visit often is highly encouraged.

Showing you Oregon,one post at a time. Did you know that I post the links of many of my stories and articles on the sidebar? When you have extra time, please scroll down to see more. At the bottom of this page there are links to many other blogs that I enjoy.

Hello, friends, thank you so much for stopping by. I really hope that you will enjoy your visit to Oregon Gifts. Due to spam, I am not accepting comments from anonymous people. Please email me at: oregongiftsofcomfortandjoy@hotmail.com if you are unable to leave a comment on here. I write back through email when I can.

My words and photographs are copyrighted, and may not be used without permission, even on Pinterest.

This week's Sepia Saturday theme has to do with ships. There are some little ships near a big ship. I strained my brain, wondering what I was going to do this time around. I had been wanting to get back to "The War Letters" and got thinking about my cousin Danny A. Hedrick, who died 13 years before I was born. Cousin Danny died on a ship during WWII. I just didn't realize all that I was going to find out, with photos to boot. I am very pleased about what unfolded for this post, and I think that you guys will enjoy it too though it is kind of sad. I did a similar post called Flora Fletcher Hedrick and The War Letters last year, but it was cool to find out the details of Danny's ship.

To refresh your memories, this side of my family is belongs to my Mom's mother, Grandma T. (Florence Hedrick Traylor). Grandma T.'s parents are Ben and Talitha Hedrick. Before Ben married Litha, he was married to Clara. Clara and Ben had a baby named Hobart; shortly thereafter, Clara died. When Hobart grew up, he married Flora Fletcher Hedrick, and they had two little boys, Dan and Lyle. During WWII, Dan, Lyle and my Uncle John (another boy of Ben and Litha's) served in the war.

The war wore on. During 1943, a series of smaller Navy ships were built. These smaller ships, Landing Craft Support, were also known as "Mighty Midgets" and they often accompanied the larger aircraft carriers. They were numbered rather than named. LCS (L) -121 is the ship in the picture below:

Cousin Danny was serving on the ship that was made right after the one above, the LCS (L) -122.

One day, during the Battle of Okinawa, the USS William D. Porter, was sunk on June 10, 1945
by Japanese Kamikaze bombers. (The largership in front, below). The LCS (L)-122 followed closely, and along with other Mighty Midgets, rescued the crew members on the "Willie Dee". Nobody died that day.

The very next day, June 11, 1945, the LCS (L)-122 was
also hit by a Japanese plane. It did not sink. Eleven men died on that Mighty Midget though, including my cousin Daniel Arthur Hedrick. In addition to the men who died, 29 people were injured in that attack,
including Richard Miles McCool. McCool went on to serve in two more wars,
and eventually became a Medal of Honor Recipient.

The photo below shows some of the damage of the LCS (L)-122:

"During the Battle of Okinawa, several LCS(L)(3)s rescued
survivors after kamikaze attacks that sank or heavily damaged other ships. For
example, on June 10, 1945, after the destroyer William D. Porter (DD 579) was hit by a kamikaze plane and started
to sink, LCS(L)(3)s tried to tow the ship to port but failed. The destroyer,
which sank about three hours after the kamikaze plane crash, lost no men due to
the superb rescue work of the LCS(L)(3)s. The photo at the bottom of this page
shows LCS(L)(3) 122 crowded at her
bow with survivors from William D. Porter
shortly before she sank. Even though William
D. Porter lost no men, LCS(L)(3) 122
was hit the following day by a kamikaze plane and lost 11 men with the number
of wounded totaling 29."

On June 16, 1945 at 8:44 p.m., a Western Union telegram from Washington D.C. was sent to Danny's mother, Flora Elizabeth Fletcher Hedrick, who was living at 4211 S.W. Condor Ave. in Portland, Oregon. It read:"I deeply regret to inform you that your son Dan Arthur Hedrick Radio Technician 3rd class U.S.N.R. has been killed in action in the service of his country. Sincerest sympathy is extended to you and your great loss. When further details as to whether body recovered or interred are received, you will be informed. To prevent possible aid to our enemies, please do not divulge the name of his ship or station unless the general circumstances are made public in news stories."Vice Admiral Randall JacobsThe Chief of Naval Personel

The next day, Flora sent a short Western Union Telegram to her other son, Cpl. Lyle P. Hedrick, 39344992 (the one who compiled The War Letters for our family).

"Received telegram Dan killed in action. Can you come. Will send money."

The story hit the media quickly. Mom, then 7, remembers Grandma T. listening to the radio in the kitchen when they heard the news. Grandma said, "That is Dan's ship!" and burst into tears.

Aunt Flora tried hard to learn of the details of her son's death. In October, she finally found out what had happened to her firstborn during his last minutes. Here is the letter that she received about the matter:

USS LCS (L) (3) 122% Fleet Post OfficeSan Francisco, Calif.

1 October 1945

Dear Mrs. Hedrick:

I am writing this in answer to your letter addresssed to Mr. Felt, since he is no longer aboard and I do not know where he is. I replaced Mr. Felt as executive officer on this ship in San Diego last March and have been aboard from the time we left the states so I am taking the liberty of writing you about your son, Dan Hedrick.

Please accept my sincerest sympathy in your loss. I don't believe any words can be adequate at such a time, but I do want you to know how sorry we who remain feel.

It is only possible to tell you rather briefly exactly what happened at the time of Dan's death. Our ship was attacked by three Jap suicide planes off of Okinawa on June 11. One of the these succeeded in crashing into the ship in the vicinity of the radio room. Your son, Mr. Thomas, and the other men stationed there were killed instantly.I wish there was more I could tell you. There isn't except to say that Dan lost his life bravely at his battle station carrying out his duties. He was buried on June 13th at the Iso Iseom Cemetery, Okinawa.Your son's personal effects have ben sent to the Navy Personal Effects Distribution Center, Farragut, Idaho. I am sure they will be forward to you from there.Again, on behalf of the crew and myself, may we send you our deepest sympathy.Very sincerely,RICHARD vK. BRUNSLt. (jg) USNRExecutive Officer

____________________________________

January 16, 1946

Dear Mrs. Hedrick,

I received your letter of the 6th and I was glad you wrote. You see Mrs. Hedrick we've been with the L.C.S. 122 all the time since we left the U.S. but they went home today. I'm sorry I could get on it to see if any of the fellows knew your Son. On June 10 teh Porter got sunk and the 122 and other L.C.S.s picked up men. We were in the Harbor. On June 11, we were supposed to go out on the picket lines, but we had to get our engines repaired, so L.C.S. 122 went out in our place. So when the next day, when we saw her brought back, in bad condition we all felt very bad. We heard how it took a plane right through the radio room and how many were killed. All the men in the radio room were killed.

So you see, your Son's ship should been out there when it happened.

I am sure that some of the boys will stop off to see you from the 122. And I will stop off and see you for sure when I get back. I am very lucky, I know and I feel very sorry for you, but it was God, who wanted your Son and thats how life is.

I better say goodnight for now.

As Ever,JimJ.E. KarcherUSS L.C.S. #91F.P.O. San Fran.Tokyo Bay

Here is a sweet picture of Danny and Lyle in their more carefree days:

So, there you are, my friends. If you enjoyed this story, please visit my Sepia Saturday friends by "CLICKING HERE" to find other neat photos and stories. To read more about my family and other stories featuring old
photos, memories and more, please look for this picture of me and my dad
on the left-hand sidebar and read whatever else catches your fancy. Thanks so much for visiting!

19 comments:

A sad story indeed. What I find wonderful about it is that even though we didn't have the technology in communications then that we do now, still the mail worked and eventually questions were answered, and then those letters were kept as family history.

So many have lost their lives and found an early grave in all the seas of the world. A telgram arriving at that time must have been so devastating for the families involved. Fate, is sometimes very cruel. Lovely the memory of the two happy boys.

A sad story indeed. My brother's war photos from the Mediterranean show ships under fire and the damage inflicted, Horrific times indeed. Danny's story makes you realise just how lucky my brother was; Danny sadly wasn't.

Thanks, everybody. All my life I have been hearing about Cousin Danny who died in the war. Now that I have been getting to know them through the pictures, letters and Lyle's manuscript, my heart knowledge has caught up with my head knowledge. Poor Flora, Lyle, Ellsworth ... all of them. Hobart too, who really wasn't very nice to Danny the last time that he saw him. And Grandma T., Granny and Grandpa Ben ... these are all real people.

War is horrible, that is for sure. Still, if WWII had gone a different way, where would we all be now?

Thanks for giving us a different perspective on the theme this weekend. It must have been very frightening for your aunt to wait so long for reports and official letters. Families needed a special fortitude then, though they had no thought it would be different one day. Today's instant news seems too fast for such tragic events.

Oh my goodness, what a sad story of a life loss, and far too many of them for what. It was a lovely letter of compassion, but one that barely touches the surface of a mother who has lost her son. Such a senseless loss of human life, and how damaging it is to the lives of loved ones still living. Your story is told so deeply, and the pictures are outstanding. Amazing captures of their world. Thank you so much, Kathy

Thank you, Kathy, for sharing this sad story. I am always avoiding to tell sad stories like this one. Perhaps it is better to tell them, like Little Nell said: it's the kind of story which should be re-told long into the future. I'll think about it.

Contact Info:

There are a lot of photos and other graphics on here, so it may take a while to load if you have a slower internet connection. I really appreciate the fact that some of you wait patiently to see what I have posted. Thank you to all my readers! Please leave a comment or send me an email at: oregongiftsofcomfortandjoy@hotmail.com

About Me:

Welcome to "Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy" My name is Kathy Matthews and I live in Central Oregon with my best friend husband, Cary. I am a fifth generation Oregonian who loves to take pictures, write, create, and go places with Cary. My main blog, Oregon Gifts, is an online journal, where I try my best to celebrate the positive portions of everyday life. My other blogs are off-shoots into my particular interest areas. Please enjoy your visit, and leave a comment if you feel led. If you would like to email me, here is my email address: oregongiftsofcomfortandjoy@
hotmail.com
Thank you!

"Celebrating the Positive Portions of Everyday Life."

Most of the photos on these websites were taken by me. Others are from my friends and family's FB pages. Enjoy them, but please do not claim them as your own or use/copy them. Thanks! All rights reserved on the contents of this website. Created by Kathy Matthews of Central Oregon, November 2008.